2023 Uefa Nations League Finals

The tournament was held from 14 to 18 June 2023 in the Netherlands and was contested by the four group winners of Nations League A. The tournament consisted of two semi-finals, a third place play-off and a final to determine the champions of the UEFA Nations League.

2023 UEFA Nations League Finals

Finaleronde UEFA Nations League 2023 (in Dutch)
Tournament details
Host country	Netherlands
Dates	14–18 June
Teams	4
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Spain (1st title)
Runners-up	Croatia
Third place	Italy
Fourth place	Netherlands
Tournament statistics
Matches played	4
Goals scored	14 (3.5 per match)
Attendance	126,319 (31,580 per match)
Top scorer(s)	14 players (1 goal each)
Best player(s)	Rodri
← 2021 2025 →

Following their win in 2021, defending champions France were unable to retain their title after finishing third in their group.

Spain won the final against Croatia, 5–4 on penalties following a 0–0 draw after extra time, for their first UEFA Nations League title.

The Nations League Finals took place in June 2023, and were contested by the four group winners of League A. The four teams were drawn into a five-team group (rather than a six-team group) for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying group stage, thereby leaving the June 2023 window available for the Nations League Finals.

The Nations League Finals took place over five days and were played in single-leg knockout matches, consisting of two semi-finals on 14 and 15 June (the first of which featured the host team), and a third place play-off and final three days after the second semi-final on 18 June 2023. The semi-final pairings were determined by means of an open draw. All matches in the tournament utilised goal-line technology and video assistant referee (VAR) systems.

In the Nations League Finals, if the scores were level at the end of normal time:

• In the semi-finals and final, 30 minutes of extra time would be played. If the score was still level after extra time, the winner would be determined by a penalty shoot-out.
• In the third place play-off, extra time would not be played, and the winner would be determined by a penalty shoot-out.

The four group winners of League A qualified for the Nations League Finals.

Group	Winners	Date of qualification	Previous finals appearances	Previous best UNL performance	UNL Rankings September 2022	FIFA Rankings April 2023
A1	Croatia	25 September 2022	0 (debut)	Ninth place (2018–19)	2	7
A2	Spain	27 September 2022	1 (2021)	Runners-up (2020–21)	3	10
A3	Italy	26 September 2022	1 (2021)	Third place (2020–21)	4	8
A4	Netherlands (host)	25 September 2022	1 (2019)	Runners-up (2018–19)	1	6

The Netherlands was confirmed as the host country by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting on 29 November 2022. Only League A teams could bid for the Nations League Finals, and only one of the four finals participants would ultimately be selected as hosts. UEFA required the tournament to be played at two Category 4 stadiums, each with at least 30,000 net seating capacity. The stadiums ideally would be located in the same host city or up to approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) apart. UEFA envisioned the larger of the stadiums to host the first semi-final (featuring the host team) and the final. The bidding timeline was as follows:

• 28 February 2022: Applications formally invited
• 13 April 2022, 16:00 CEST: Closing date for registering intention to bid (non-binding)
• 14 April 2022: Bid requirements made available to bidders
• May 2022: Opening workshop for bidders
• July/August 2022: Technical calls with bidders
• 7 September 2022, 16:00 CEST: Closing date for submission of preliminary bid dossier
• 5 October 2022, 16:00 CEST: Closing date for submission of final bid dossier
• 29 November 2022: Host appointment by the UEFA Executive Committee

On 13 April 2022, UEFA announced that Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland and Wales had declared interest in hosting the tournament. As all four associations were in Group A4, the group winner was in line to be appointed as the host, provided that the associations submitted bids which meet UEFA's requirements. Poland and Wales were unable to win Group A4 following their results on 14 June 2022, leaving Belgium and the Netherlands as the remaining potential hosts. On 25 September 2022, the Netherlands won Group A4 over Belgium and advanced to the Nations League Finals, thereby automatically winning hosting rights, which were confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee on 29 November 2022.

De Kuip in Rotterdam and De Grolsch Veste in Enschede were confirmed as the venues for the tournament on 29 November 2022. Other potential stadiums, such as the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam (the largest in the country) and the Philips Stadion in Eindhoven, were both unavailable for the tournament due to previously scheduled concerts.

Rotterdam   Enschede	Rotterdam	Enschede
	De Kuip	De Grolsch Veste
	Capacity: 51,117	Capacity: 30,205

The semi-final pairings were determined by means of an open draw on 25 January 2023, 11:00 CET, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. Former Dutch international Wesley Sneijder, ambassador for the Nations League Finals, drew the match pairings. The first two teams drawn were allocated to match pairing A, while the remaining two teams drawn were allocated to match pairing B. For scheduling purposes, the host team was allocated to the first semi-final as the administrative home team. The administrative home team for both the third place play-off and final were predetermined as the teams which advanced from semi-final 1.

Each national team had to submit a squad of 23 players, three of whom had to be goalkeepers, at least ten days before the opening match of the tournament. If a player became injured or ill severely enough to prevent his participation in the tournament before his team's first match, he could be replaced by another player.

	Semi-finals				Final
	14 June – Rotterdam
	Netherlands	2
					18 June – Rotterdam
	Croatia (a.e.t.)	4
					Croatia	0 (4)
	15 June – Enschede
					Spain (p)	0 (5)
	Spain	2
	Italy	1
					Third place play-off
					18 June – Enschede
					Netherlands	2
					Italy	3

All times are local, CEST (UTC+2).

Netherlands vs Croatia

14 June 2023 (2023-06-14)

20:45

Netherlands	2–4 (a.e.t.)	Croatia
Malen   34' Lang   90+6'	Report	Kramarić   55' (pen.) Pašalić   72' Petković   98' Modrić   116' (pen.)

De Kuip, Rotterdam

Attendance: 39,359

Referee: István Kovács (Romania)

Netherlands

Croatia

GK 1 Justin Bijlow RB 22 Denzel Dumfries   85' CB 12 Lutsharel Geertruida CB 4 Virgil van Dijk (c) LB 5 Nathan Aké   106' CM 6 Mats Wieffer   75' CM 20 Teun Koopmeiners   93' CM 21 Frenkie de Jong   38' RF 18 Donyell Malen   75' CF 9 Cody Gakpo   106' LF 11 Xavi Simons   64' Substitutions: FW 19 Wout Weghorst   64' MF 8 Georginio Wijnaldum   75' FW 7 Steven Bergwijn   75' FW 10 Noa Lang   85' MF 15 Marten de Roon   106' DF 16 Tyrell Malacia   116'   106' Manager: Ronald Koeman

GK 1 Dominik Livaković   90+1' RB 22 Josip Juranović   78' CB 6 Josip Šutalo   91' CB 21 Domagoj Vida LB 14 Ivan Perišić DM 11 Marcelo Brozović   64' CM 10 Luka Modrić (c)   119' CM 8 Mateo Kovačić   17'   85' RW 15 Mario Pašalić   24' LW 16 Luka Ivanušec   78' CF 9 Andrej Kramarić   90' Substitutions: MF 13 Nikola Vlašić   78' DF 2 Josip Stanišić   78' MF 7 Lovro Majer   85' DF 5 Martin Erlić   90' FW 17 Bruno Petković   91' DF 3 Borna Barišić   119' Manager: Zlatko Dalić

Spain vs Italy

15 June 2023 (2023-06-15)

20:45

Spain	2–1	Italy
Pino   3' Joselu   88'	Report	Immobile   11' (pen.)

De Grolsch Veste, Enschede

Attendance: 24,558

Referee: Slavko Vinčić (Slovenia)

Spain

Italy

GK 23 Unai Simón RB 22 Jesús Navas CB 3 Robin Le Normand CB 14 Aymeric Laporte LB 18 Jordi Alba (c)   45+1' CM 16 Rodri CM 6 Mikel Merino   74' RW 19 Rodrigo   46' AM 9 Gavi   57'   68' LW 15 Yeremy Pino   74' CF 7 Álvaro Morata   83'   84' Substitutions: FW 10 Marco Asensio   46' MF 11 Sergio Canales   68' MF 8 Fabián Ruiz   74' FW 12 Ansu Fati   74' FW 20 Joselu   84' Manager: Luis de la Fuente

GK 1 Gianluigi Donnarumma CB 13 Rafael Tolói CB 19 Leonardo Bonucci (c)   46' CB 15 Francesco Acerbi RM 2 Giovanni Di Lorenzo CM 7 Davide Frattesi   76' CM 8 Jorginho   60' CM 18 Nicolò Barella LM 4 Leonardo Spinazzola   46' CF 11 Nicolò Zaniolo   90+3' CF 17 Ciro Immobile   38'   60' Substitutions: DF 5 Matteo Darmian   46' DF 3 Federico Dimarco   46' FW 14 Federico Chiesa   60' MF 16 Bryan Cristante   60' MF 6 Marco Verratti   76' Manager: Roberto Mancini

Goalscorers

There were 14 goals scored in 4 matches, for an average of 3.5 goals per match.

1 goal

Awards

Player of the Tournament

The Player of the Finals award was given to Rodri, who was chosen by UEFA's technical observers.

•   Rodri

Goal of the Tournament

The Alipay Goal of the Tournament was decided by online voting. A total of four goals were in the shortlist, chosen by UEFA's technical observers: Federico Dimarco (against Netherlands), Donyell Malen (against Croatia), Mario Pašalić (against Netherlands) and Bruno Petković (against Netherlands). Petković won the award for his goal in the semi-final.

Rank	Goalscorer	Opponent	Score	Result	Round
	Bruno Petković	Netherlands	3–2	4–2 (a.e.t.)	Semi-finals
—	Federico Dimarco	Netherlands	1–0	3–2	Third place play-off
—	Donyell Malen	Croatia	1–0	2–4 (a.e.t.)	Semi-finals
—	Mario Pašalić	Netherlands	2–1	4–2 (a.e.t.)	Semi-finals

Discipline

A player would have been automatically suspended for the next match for receiving a red card, which could have been extended for serious offences. However, no players received a suspension during the Nations League Finals. Yellow card suspensions did not apply in the Nations League Finals, including any pending suspensions from the league phase, while yellow cards issued were not carried forward to any other future international matches.